Garment or attachment for controlling the distribution, pressure, and circulation ofbody fluids



y 1949- D. M. CLARK ETAL v 2,475,479

GARMENT OR ATTACHMENT FOR CONTROLLING THE DISTRIBUTION, PRESSURE AND'CIRCULATION OF BODY FLUIDS Filed Sept. 26, 1-946 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I NVENTORS DAVID M. G LARK EARL H. WOOD HENRY A. SCHROEDER BMW f/%/ ATTORNEY July 5, 1949. D. M. CLARK ETAL 2,475,479

GARMENT OR ATTACHMENT FOR CONTROLLING THE 'DISTRIBUTIQ i PRESSURE AND'CIRCULATION OF-BODY FLUIDS Filed Sept. 26, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS DAVID M. CLARK EARL H. wopo HENRYA. fiCHROEDER BY wad/M ATTORNEY D. M. CLARK ETAL 7 GARMENT OR ATTACHMENT FOR CONTROLLING THE DISTRIBUTION,

July 5, 1949..

PRESSURE AND'CIRCULATION OF BODY FLUIDS Filed Sept. 26, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS= DAVID M. CLARK EAR L H. WOOD Y R E H N ZR O A T W T N A E Y atented July 5, 1949 GARMENT OR ATTACHMENT FOR CON- TROLLING THE DISTRIBUTION, PRES- SURE, AND CIRCULATION OF BODY FLUIDS David M. Clark, Worcester, Mass, Earl H. Wood, Rochester, Minn., and Henry A. Schroeder, Chesterfield, Mo., said Wood and said Schroeder assignors to said Clark Application September 26, 1946, Serial No. 699,378

3 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to an improved garment, or attachment for controlling the distribution and pressure of body fluids and thereby enable the occupant of an aircraft to withstand the abnormal forces to which his body may be subjected as a result of rapid and extreme changes in the aircrafts speed and direction of flight.

Experience has shown that maneuvers of fast and high powered aircraft create centrifugal forces which are frequently great enough to render the occupants temporarily blind and sometimes unconscious. These forces act upon the body fluids, particularly blood, and the tissues of the body, so that when a fast airplane is banked and turned, or dived and then leveled olT, these body fluids are driven down, away from the head by reason of their increased weight. The resultin reduction or stoppage of blood circulation to the head, if of sufflcient magnitude and duration causes a dimming or complete loss of vision, known as blackout, and if the force is great enough and is sustained long enough, complete unconsciousness may result. Since the forces discussed above increase in proportion to the square of the velocity of the air plane and in inverse proportion to the radius of the turn, the maneuvering of fast aircraft is definitely limited by the ability of the pilot and other occupants to withstand the forces that cause the above described severe physiological changes with the body. The object of the present invention is to provide an improved garment or attachment, for occupants of fast aircraft which will so control the distribution, pressure and circulation of body fluids as to enable the wearer to successfully withstand abnormal forces created by rapid and extreme changes in the speed and direction of the aircrafts flight. As will later appear, the garment of the present invention is particularly characterized by the completeness of the protection afforded the wearer and its simplicity and lightness in weight; furthermore it may be used for medical treatments.

Briefly stated, the device of the present invention consists of a closely fitted suit in the form of a coverall, or an attachment to be worn over ordinary clothing, having incorporated therein a unitary bladder, which is adapted to be inflated so as to simultaneously apply pressure on the abdomen, the thighs and the legs of the wearer. The inflated bladder portions are adapted to compress the associated body areas, and restrict the flow of body fluids to the dependent portions of body when the wearer of the garment is subjected to the abnormal forces discussed above, resulting from the rapid and extreme changes in the speed and the direction of flight of an airplane. By reason of the above noted provision of the bladder portions at critical points in the vascular system of the body, the garment is also adapted for extremely high altitude flying, so as to pressurize the body and provide considerable protection to the wearer from the disturbing physiological effects of extremely high altitudes.

In the above and other respects, the devices of the present application present certain features in common with the garment, or attachment, shown and described in the pending application of David M. Clark and Earl H. Wood filed Sept. 14, 1946, Serial No. 697,118. Other and further objects and advantages of our invention will be apparent from the following description thereof considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of the outside appearance of a protective garment embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 illustrates the construction of a unitary bladder for the garment of Fig. 1, with certain portions broken away.

Fig. 3 is a view in front elevation of a protective attachment embodying the present invention in a form to be worn over ordinary clothmg.

Fig. 4 is a view in rear elevation of the attachment shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 illustrates the construction of a unitary bladder for the attachment shown in Figs. ,3 and 4.. 7

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, the invention is shown, for purposes of illustration, as being embodied in a garment made as a complete coverall suit I having a fastener 2 of the slide type extending across the front of the body portion 3, with other slide fastener 4 being provided in the leg portions 5 to permit convenient donning of the suit. The material of the body portion 3 and leg portions 5 provides suitable pockets for insertion of a unitary bladder 6 which is shown removed from the suit in Fig. 2. Y

The bladder 6 is composed of any suitable material such as rubber, or treated fabric which will hold air under pressure, and is so formed that when placed in the suit I and inflated, the

bladder will apply pressure to the calves, and thighs and over the abdominal area of the wearer. In order to obtain these results, the

bladder 6 provides enlarged portions 1 and 8 extending downwardly on either side of a central portion 9, with reduced necks Ia and 8a therebetween, and the location of these portions within the suit I is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. With the arrangement shown, it is obvious that inflation of the bladder 6 will result in the application of pressure to the calves by the bladder portions 1, to th highs by the bladder portions 8, and over the abdominal area by portion 9.

The bladder 6 is adapted to be inflated by the admission of a fluid pressure medium, such as air, through a tube I 9 leading from the top of the abdominal portion 9. In order to insure that all portions of the bladder will be simultaneously inflated upon the admission of air under pressure through the tube I0, means are provided for holding opposite halves of the bladder away from each other when the bladder is in a deflated condition. For this purpose a light weight coil spring II is located in the middle of the abdominal portion 9, with the sprin II extending into thigh portions 8. Beyond the ends of the spring II, flexible cords I2 extend into the calf portions I, so that the opposite sides of the bladder 6 which are flat are always held out of engagement with each other even when the bladder is deflated. In order to prevent sharp bending of the tube III, the spring II extends into the tube to hold it outwardly from the bladder. The spring II is preferably covered with a light netting Ila to prevent chafling of the bladder.

The tube III leading from the bladder 6 is connected by a suitable coupling I3 to a control valve I4 which is adapted to regulate the amount of pressure admitted to the bladder 6 in proportion to the centrifugal, or other abnormal forces, to which the wearer of th suit is subjected as a result of sudden and extreme changes in the speed and direction of flight of the aircraft. The specific construction of the control valve l4 forms no part of the present invention, and it is sufficient for an understanding of the functioning of the bladder 6 to state that the valve l4 operates automatically to control the admission of air under pressure from a pressure source I5, in response to the creation of abnormal forces. For

purposes of illustration, the valve I3 is indicated I as being of the type shown and described in the pending application of David M. Clark and Henry W. Wilder filed July 12, 1946, Serial No. 683,098, for a protective system for aircraft occupants wherein a weight l4a is responsive to forces developed during flight to automatically operate the valve and control the admission of air under a predetermined pressure to the bladder 6.

When the valve l4 operates, as described above, air from th pressure source I5 is admitted to the tube I0 from which it enters the bladder 6 to inflate all portions thereof almost simultaneously owing to the unitary construction of the bladder and the fact that opposite sides of the bladder are held out of engagement with each other by the spring II and the cords I2. With the bladder 6 so inflated, the associated portions of the suit I serve to apply the inflated bladder portions I, 8, and 9 to the calves and thighs, and over the abdominal area of the wearer. As a result, the distribution and pressure of the body fluids, particularly blood, is controlled in such manner as to enable the wearer of the suit to withstand the abnormal forces to which his body is subjected as a result of rapid and extreme changes in the speed and direction of flight of which, if not compensated for would produce a reduction or stoppage of the blood supply to the head. When the airplane returns to normal flight, the control valve I4 automatically functions to release the pressure in the bladder 6 and the bladder resumes its normal deflated condition.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4, there is shown a modification of the invention wherein a unitary bladder is embodied in an attachment I6 to be worn over ordinary clothing, with the attachment having a skeleton form with a minimum of material therein just suflicient to hold the bladder in place after the attachment has been donned. As best shown in Fig. 3 the attachment I6 consists of a waist portion I! having a slide fastener I8 at one side, with cutaway leg portions I9 extending downwardly from the waist portion I1. Th leg portions I9 are provided with slide fasteners 20 along their inside edges, so that the whole attachment can be readily donned over ordinary clothing. The material of the portions l1 and I9 provides suitable pockets to receive the unitary bladder 2| which is shown in Fig. 5 as being removed from the attachment.

The bladder 2| is of substantially the same form as the bladder 6 and provides enlarged portions 22 and 23 connected by reduced necks 22a and 23a extending downwardly from each side of a central portion 24. The location of the bladder portions 22, 23 and 24 within the attachment is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, from which it is apparent that the continuous portions of the attachment l6 are so designed as to apply the bladder portions 22, 23, and 24 to the calves, thighs, and abdominal area of the wearer, when the bladder 2| is inflated.

In order to provide for proper application of the bladder portions 22, 23 and 24 to the body of the wearer, the waist portion l1 and the leg portions H! of the attachment I6 are provided with means for adjusting the girth of these portions. As best shown in Fig. 4, which is a rear view of the attachment of Fig. 3, the waist portion I! is provided with lacings 25 at either side, at the rear of the pocket which holds bladder portion 24 while each leg portion I9 is provided with separate lacings 26 and 21 opposite to the pockets which hold the bladder portions 22 and 23, respectively. The lacings 25, 26, and 21 therefore, provide means whereby the attachment I1 can be readily adjusted b the wearer to properly apply the bladder portions 22, 23, and 24 in accordance with the amount of outside clothing that is being worn.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that by the present invention, there is provided an improved garment or attachment for preventing an unnatural distribution of fluids within a human body which is subjected to abnormal forces set up when the body is accelerated in space, as when in an aircraft. Furthermore, by reason of the inherent capabilities of the device for maintaining a substantially natural distribution of fluids within a human body which is subjected to fluid circulation-distributing forces of any sort, our garment or attachment may also be very effectivel employed by hospitals and clinics for the treatment of patients who are suffering from various maladies efiecting the human vascular system. When so employed for purely medical purposes, the garment is effective to either maintain a normal distribution of body fluids, or to actually increase a patients blood pressure. It has been found that the massaging efiect of the applied bladders produces very beneficial results on patients suffering from certain of the above noted maladies.

We claim;

1. A garment of the type described, comprising, a body-encircling section, a pair of leg-encircling sections depending from said body-encircling section, a substantially U-shaped unitary inflatable bladder having each limb thereof associated with a respective one of said depending leg sections and having the base portion thereof associated with said body-encircling section, an air-supply tube connected with the base portion of said bladder, and a coil spring connected with said air-supply tube and extending into each of said bladder limbs for facilitating the entry of air into said limbs.

2. A garment of the type described, comprising, a waist-encircling band including front and back panels secured together at one side of said garment, slide fastener means associated with said front and back panels at the other side of said garment for opening and closing said band, a pair of leg-encircling sections of which each includes a front and a back panel secured together along an outside edge of said garment, slide fastener means associated with the inner edge portions of said leg panels for opening and closing the same, a relatively narrow strip of material connecting the outer top edge portion of each of said front leg panels with the front panel of said waist-encircling band, a substantially U-shaped inflatable bladder unit having its base portion associated with the front panel of said waist-encircling band and having each of its limb portions associated with a respective one of said front leg panels, and a tube connected with the base of said bladder for connecting the latter with a source of mudsunnly 3, A garment of the type described, comprising, a waist-encircling band including front and back panels secured together at one side of said garment with a bladder pocket formed within the front panel, slide fastener means associated with said front and back panels at the other side of said garment for opening and closing said band, a pair of leg-encircling sections of which each includes a front and back panel secured together along an outsid edge of said garment and each front leg panel providing a bladder pocket longitudinally thereof, slide fastener means means associated with the inner edge portions of said leg panels for opening and closing the same, a relatively narrow strip of material connecting the outer top edge portion of each of said front leg panels with the front panel of said waist-encircling band, a substantially U- shaped inflatable bladder unit having its base portion disposed within the bladder pocket of said waist-encircling band, and having each of its limb portions disposed within a respective one of the leg pockets, an air-supply tube connected with the base portion of said bladder, and means connected to said air-supply tube and extending into each of said bladder limbs for facilitating the entry of air into said limbs.

DAVID M. CLARK.

EARL H. WOOD.

HENRY A. SCI-IROEDER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,878,474 Drager et al. Sept. 20, 1932 2,397,709 Versoy et a1., II Apr. 2, 1946 2,397,710 versoy et al., J; Apr. 2, 1946 

